Sportswashing

2019 Felix Jakens, quoted in Sean Ingle, "'They want the money': the real reason boxing is going to Saudi Arabia", The Guardian The fight is pure sportswashing and that's why it’s so important to challenge the Saudi propaganda machine and its increased use of sport to gloss over its abysmal human rights record.

2020 Hatice Cengiz, quoted in Stephanie Kirchgaessner, "Khashoggi fiancee: stop Saudi takeover of Newcastle United or be complicit", The Guardian I trust the Premier League and British authorities value their own principles and reputation above this transparent attempt at sports-washing

From the 2016 European Formula 1 Grand Prix, matches at football's 2020 European Championship, and now the European Games, Azerbaijan is practicing sportswashing – using major sporting events as a way of diverting attention from human rights violations.

By taking this line are we as sports fans not also complicit in this sportswashing?

There is this assumption that sportswashing works, especially with football fans. I suspect there is a bit of a class thing going on here – as in, we are all thought gullible enough to have our awareness of the Saudis’ human rights record washed clean out of our simple minds.